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I’ve had the Liz Earle Perfect Finish Powder Foundation* sitting in my kit for a few months now, and I remember using it as soon as it arrived, thinking it would be awesome when my skin settled down a bit, then only remembering it again today and thankfully establishing my initial impressions were right.

Perfect Finish Powder Foundation is an interesting product as it isn’t just a pressed mineral powder as you might expect. Instead it’s a powder foundation that, when warmed to the skin, sort of develops into a liquid foundation-like finish. It’s extremely easy to apply; I use my Bare Minerals powder brush to work it all over my face, then I use the enclosed sponge to go over any areas that need extra coverage.

When inspecting the powder you’d expect it to have quite a heavy feel on the skin, but it actually leaves skin feeling very velvety and silky to the touch. It’s extremely buildable and you can use it for a light bit of coverage or build it up to maximum coverage. It isn’t quite as high coverage as a mineral foundation, but it does a really good job of softening and defusing blemishes and giving skin a really lovely finish.

This isn’t a great choice for people with lots of spots as it doesn’t provide enough coverage alone, but paired with a decent concealer I think it would work really well, both as a setting powder and as an independent foundation.

Liz Earle Perfect Finish Powder Foundation – before and after.

The finish is extremely matte – I don’t think I’ve ever used anything this matte before, which can result in skin looking quite flat, but that’s easily rectified by the addition of a bit of blush and highlighter. What I really love about this is how it melts and merges with the skin so well; so you get a really decent coverage but skin still looks like skin!

Two things really stand out about this product for me. Firstly, the longevity is impressive as it looked just as good (possibly even slightly better!) 8 hours after application and I didn’t need to add any more at any point, therefore this is a great choice for oily skin types as it didn’t reveal any greasiness and was virtually budgeproof for the entire time I wore it. Secondly, the shade I have, Soft Porcelain, is extremely pale which means us fair-skinned girls can comfortably wear this without the dreaded tide-mark showing. In fact I would say it’s ever so slightly too pale for me which I think is probably the first time I’ve ever said that!

Full make-up!

This is my first make-up item from Liz Earle and I like it very much. The finish is gorgeous (although it does benefit from a bit of lift with blush and highlighter due to it’s matte finish), the packaging has a touch of understated glamour, and the fact that it lasts so well means I’ll now be putting away Laura Mercier’s powder to use this instead. It’s available now, both instore and online from Liz Earle for £21.

6 Responses to “Liz Earle Perfect Finish Powder Foundation”

I really wanted to try this when it came out but noticed it had bismuth oxychloride in it (as does the Laura Mericer minerla foundation) so it put me off. It has given you a lovely finish though, but my search continues to find a good foundation that’ll cover spot scaring.

Yeah that is a good point; I’ve stopped avoiding bismuth and it hasn’t made any difference to my skin, but if you want a good mineral powder that’s free from bismuth, have you tried Everyday Minerals? All their stuff is free from bismuth and the shade range is great too. Most importantly, it’s what I used for years to cover spots and scars! I’m fairly certain I’ve reviewed it at some point so if you search for Everyday Minerals on the blog then there should be a review xx

Hi lovely – wow, that looks like some amazing stuff right there! Your skin looks flawless! Matte is hard in terms of building dimensions in the face as like you say, it is extremely flat – but what girl doesn’t like a bit of blush and highlight? Not me anyway, ha ha ha!

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Hello and thank you for visiting my Beauty Geek blog. I'm Sascha, a 30 year old beauty obsessive and here you will find 90% beauty, 6% baby (regarding my son Teddy), 3% a bit of everything else and 2% bad maths. I'm a London-based geek and Beauty Editor at ShinyShiny who is all about the research; I love reading and writing about everything beauty with a special interest in skincare and treating problem skin types. I'm part of Handpicked Media, Mumsnet Bloggers Network and Gorkana's Blogger Influencer List.